In Ireland the expected working life for men has fallen by 1.1 years in the past 10 years, according to data from Eurostat.

Men in Ireland now have an expected working life of 39.2 years.

For women in Ireland the figure is 31.5 years, an increase of 1.8 years over the past ten years.

In all European Union (EU) Member States except Latvia and Lithuania, the 'duration of working life' was expected to be longer for men than for women in 2016.

Average expected years of working life Credit: Eurostat

The 'duration of working life' indicator measures the number of years a person, aged 15, can expect to be active in the labour market, either employed or unemployed, throughout his or her life.

The overall increase in the 'duration of working life' across Member States has generally been driven by the change in the duration of a woman's working life, according to Eurostat.

In all Member States expect Romania the length of time a woman could be expected to work has risen in the last 10 years, with the largest increase coming in Malta, where women in 2016 were expected to work nine years longer than they were in 2006.

In 2016, people in EU could be expected to work for an average of 35.6 years, up by almost two years compared with 2006, according to the data from Eurostat.

In Ireland the average expected working life at just under 35 years is almost exactly in line with the EU average working life, however our Swedish counterparts had the longest expected average working life of 41.3 years.

Denmark and the Netherlands completed the top three Member States with the longest working life, working for 40.3 years and 40.0 years respectively.

The United Kingdom came in fourth for the longest working life in the EU, with people expected to work an average of 38.8 years.

In contrast the shortest working life in the EU can be found in Italy, where the working life was expected to last less than 32 years.